Know of Him; or Know Him?
Copyright © Dave Earley
http://www.InIt-2-WinIt.org
What, or who are you grateful to know?
What have you been blessed with? Perhaps a loving family?
What have you learned? What have you experienced?
Would you ever marry someone, without really getting to know them? Before we marry, don’t we spend time with the one’s we love? True knowledge of someone comes from having experiences with that person.
Many people think that when they know things about God, they know Him. If you knew things about any one person before you became friends with them, did you know them? Having basic information of God, can we then truly know Him? Even if we just read His word, the Bible, we only know about Him. God never called us to just know about Him. He calls us to know Him.
God doesn’t hide Himself from His people. He reveals Himself to us, that we might be drawn to Him.
This is what Jesus said about eternal life, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
Do you know why Jesus came?
Jesus came so that we could know God! Eternal life is not only about heaven, but about God’s children experiencing everything that true life has to offer, through knowledge of God, now and forever.
Millions of people chase after money, power, relationships, status, education, and appearance, hoping to find something; fulfillment. However, chasing after what the world has to offer, has gotten mankind nowhere. How much is ever enough? There is always hunger for more, and better. But life cannot reach full potential apart from God.
Many people approach life like someone shooting at a target, and then drawing a bull’s eye around it. We shoot for some thing, and draw the meaning of our lives around it.
Should we base the significance of our whole lives on achievements? Is life not more than what we have done? When God places eternity in our hearts, when He reveals Himself to us, that is when the true bull’s eye is hit. The true bull’s eye of life is hit, when we KNOW God!
If you are a follower of Christ; do you act, and speak more like Him now than you did one, two, or three years ago? Are you really being changed by Him? God’s character is overwhelming, powerful, and genuine. When you seek Him, and spend time with Him, you cannot help being changed by Him.
True knowledge of God doesn’t live in the head. Your love for God, can only be seen in the way that you live your life. Our lives are true testimonies to our claim to know God.
God reveals Himself to us in His word. Have you read it? Study His word, pray about it, asking Him to teach you through the Holy Spirit, and be ready to obey His call.
Is there a more meaningful pursuit in life, than getting to know God?
It is a challenge, it will take discipline, and the body will have to be denied things that it “needs”, but throughout your walk with God, you will learn about all kinds of things, including your own heart. You may not always be comfortable, but you will be more like Jesus, and you will know God personally.
But it’s all up to you, where you choose to find your fulfillment. God only feeds those who are hungry. Are you hungry? Go and sit at His table, read His word, get with others who love Him, ask Him to keep you hungry for more. He will!
The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy the lives of people, to keep them from discovering God’s mercy and grace. Don’t be deceived! Seek God, and know Him to the utmost.
I am thankful for His word, His presence, and that He transforms me into the image of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for those who faithfully labor for Him. I pray that you would be found by Him, and filled by Him. May we look back again next year and say, “I know God better, for He has been changing me.”
“Life in Christ is a moving experience…moving forward, that is.” -Tony Evans
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (II Corinthians 1:21-22).
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance “ (Ephesians 1:13-14).
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